Roman General’s Spatha

A beautifully made General’s sword with highly elaborated hilt, richly decorated bronze and stained oak.  Blade made of Spring steel.  This reproduction is handmade by Historical Armouries.

The spatha was a type of straight sword with a long point, measuring between 0.75 and 1 m,in use throughout 1st millennium Europe and the territory of the Roman Empire until about AD 600. Later swords through about AD 1000 are recognizable derivatives, though not spathae.

The predecessor of the spatha is the 3rd century BC (La Tène) Celtic sword. The spatha of literature appears in the Roman Empire in the 1st century as a weapon of presumed Germanic auxiliaries[dubious – discuss] and went on from there to become a standard heavy infantry weapon, relegating the gladius to use as a light infantry weapon. The spatha apparently simply replaced the gladius in the front ranks, giving the infantry more reach in thrusting.

Archaeologically many instances of the spatha have been found in Britain and Germany. It was used extensively by Germanic warriors but whether it came from the Pompeii gladius or the longer Celtic swords or served as a model for the various broadswords and Viking swords of Europe is a highly speculative topic. The spatha remained popular throughout the Migration period. It could have evolved into the knightly sword of the High Middle Ages from about 1100, but the large number of sword types that appeared during the period are difficult to connect for certain. Specific details of their manufacture and the models used by their manufacturers remain chiefly unknown.

Historical Armouries product range can be found on www.historicalarmouries.com